re: how do i go about consolidating student loans

Backwards ... MIL took out the loans in daughter/wife's name, but money was for daughter/wife to go to school.

She always knew she had loans, but they were smaller ones each year (Stafford, etc.). We're in the process of buying our first home now, and looking through her credit report we noticed one lump sump loan that was worth more than double the previous balance of all the other smaller ones combined.

Wife certainly doesn't remember signing for it.. MIL claims it was ANOTHER series of smaller loans that got consolidated into one giant one (even though it's not labeled as consolidated).